enlehman76

My husband and I are going to be flying into Prague and out of Vienna. We would like to spend time in Prague, Cesky Krumlov, and then head to Bavaria before we make our way to the Salzburg/Lakes area and Vienna. It seems like getting from Cesky Krumlov to Bavaria is no easy task. We were thinking that we would train from CK to Austria and then rent a car in Austria to have in Bavaria and Austrian Lakes area. Any suggestions on the best city to bus or train to from CK where we can get a rental car easily and then drive to Bavaria easily? What are the bus/train/driving times? Thanks!

Betsy

We went from CK to Munich a few years ago. BTW, we loved CK. You could take the train from CK to Linz, Austria, then take the train to Munich. Due to the train schedule and difficult connections, we ended up taking a taxi to Linz from CK for just a little more money. Since this was a few years ago, the connections may be better now. I'm not sure about travel time, but I think the trip took most of the day. The train from Linz to Munich was wonderfully modern.

As for car rental, we always use AutoEurope. They're a US broker, so you pay in USD. (I'm assuming you're in the US). A lot of people on Fodor's use them. Phone their 800 number and ask about picking up in Linz, driving to Bavaria, and dropping off in Vienna. I'm not sure about their pick up/drop off policy.

hogs_cowboys

I traveled from Berchtesgaden in Bavaria to Prague a couple of years ago. I will not do that again. Changed trains 8 times and took over 12 hours, several of the trains were late. If it hadn't been for a local on my train that spoke english I don't think I would ever have made my connections. I was told later that a bus from Munich to Prague would have taken less than half that time. Just thought I'd let you know about my problems and frustrations with the Czech rail system. The train I took from Prague to Berlin was a German train and was excellent. Some of the Czech trains I took to get to Prague were almost third world looking.

violetduck

We needed to go from CK to Regensburg a few years ago on the train,and as you stated, it was no easy task. So, we used
www.mike-chauffeur.cz to drive us to Passau. After seeing Passau and going to the noon organ concert there we took the
train to Regensburg and spent the rest of our trip in Bavaria.
We only travel by train so I am no help with car rentals.
Happy travels!!!!

enlehman76

Originally we had our trip starting in Prague and ending in Munich...so we were going to go Prague-Vienna-Salzburg/Lakes-Bavaria and then fly out of Munich. But, with how wonderfully beautiful everyone says Cesky Krumlov is, we wanted to fit that in (and we don't care too much about seeing Munich---were going to stay one night before we leave for the US). So we thought we should do Prague-Cesky Krumlov-Bavaria-Salzburg/Lakes-Vienna. It just seems on a map that going to Bavaria is much out of the way from the other cities we are visiting but can't bear the thought of not seeing the castles while we are there. Any thoughts on this itinerary vs our original one and/or some other suggestions of how to fot CK in with the oher areas we want to visit, besides Munich?

iris1745

www.shuttlebus.cz/munich.html You could consider this four hour ride to Munich. Hire your car in Munich. Richard